Author: Dr. William Rassman

I have been transplanted twice. Both times, this bald spot, which was transplanted, didn’t seem to take the grafts and grow out like the rest of the hair.

You most likely have Alopecia Areata. This condition will cause the hair to fail to grow in an active area of the disease. I recommend that you see a dermatologist. He will look at it via microscopic examination and possibly find ‘exclamation hairs’. He will also perform a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. This is a critical step for you because this disease can get worse.

“I am almost 1 year since my hair transplant and I am very disappointed with the results”. I have heard this before. Setting proper expectation that are realistic is critical between the doctor and the patient. From what this patient told me in his email, he did not elaborate why he was disappointed so I would assume that either he did not get the growth of the transplants (reflecting some time of procedural error) or that his expectations were not realistic and his result may have been what the doctor promised but not what he expected. I always recommend that the patient return to the doctor who did the work and discuss the result, the expectations, etc… If there was a failure of the procedure to any significant degree, the doctor should be honorable and MAKE IT RIGHT to the patient’s satisfaction. I would do that if I were the doctor.

I went to the dermatologist to talk about my hairloss. Due to the how fast I lost my hair (almost 70% density in a year), the doctor did a hair biopsy and apparently the results show Alopecia Areata. I have been going back to the dermatologist once a month for the past 2 months for cortisone shots and have not seen any results. I am a bit skeptical about the Alopecia Areata diagnosis, mainly because their is typically a circular bald pattern associated with it and my hairloss isn’t like that.

The picture you show of the back of your scalp is typical of alopecia areata; however, the quality is poor and out of focus. With good photos, one should see on close examination Exclamation Mark hairs in and around the hair loss areas. This is sometimes a difficult problem to reverse. Because the quality of the photos are so poor, Don’t hang your hat on the diagnosis I gave you above until you either send me better photos or see a dermatologist

These photos were sent to me by Dr. Richard Burgmeier in Arizona who had a patient with Alopecia Totalis that failed to respond to treatment for many years. Dr. Burgmeier said:

“The patient is sixteen years of age and had the problem since the age of twelve. She has seen different doctors and has tried multiple treatments with no improvement. She started the Laser (LLLT) in November 2005 and at the same time started Joe Soaza’s protocol which included L-Tyrosine 3 pills in morning 2 at night and minoxidil 5% twice a day after showering. Since November 2005 she has been getting treatments with the Laser for 20 minutes twice a week. The patient is very excited with this treatment. This is the best treatment she has tried. It is the only treatment that has stimulated hair growth over her entire scalp. The patient stated “This is the most hair I have had in 2 years.” She has had problems with eczema over her scalp that has completely resolved since her treatments started.

We currently have 10 other patients that have been using the Laser Hair Care System 20 minutes twice a week for the past 6-8 weeks. So far every one of these patients have been very happy with results. These other patients have only been treated with the laser.”

It is clear to me that the results in a very short time frame were beyond what Dr. Burgmeier had expected. Like our last blog entry for the laser therapy, Laser Treatment (LLLT) for Hair Loss (with Photos), there were multiple therapies used, but clearly the results were spectacular for the early treatment of this combined therapy. Dr. Burgmeier feels that the laser treatment has great value based upon his experience with it. If this patient continues with this type of gain, we all hope that much more of her hair will return. A bald female at 16 needs all the help and luck she can get. The relationship with the laser and the cause of its benefit is not clear from a scientific basis. I would have liked to see the treatments added with one therapy and then a second therapy separated over time so that their incremental value would be more directly evident. Then we might know which treatment actually produced the benefit you see here. Is there hope for this young girl? Frankly, I am a perpetual optimist, so I hope for her sake that she will continue with the growth, covering a wider and wider area. I will get follow-up pictures on her in the next few months and post them here. What I would hopefully see is that these small islands of hair will grow larger and then merge together to appear like a full head of hair (ideal result, of course). Click the photos below to enlarge.